Krista Diamond | Longreads | November 2022 | 16 minutes (4,342 words) In 2012, I was working at a hotel in Glacier National Park when a man I’d just met invited me for a day of tubing and drinking beer on the river. Little did I know, I would nearly drown in the rapids. But […]
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The Proving Grounds: Charley Crockett and the Story of Deep Ellum
Generations of musicians got their start busking the streets of the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas. After a decade of ‘hobo-ing’ around cities like New Orleans, Paris, and New York, Charley Crockett discovered it was his turn.
“This Halloween is Something to Be Sure”: An Examination of Lou Reed’s New York
New York might be Lou Reed’s most politically active album, especially on tracks like “Halloween Parade,” which functions both as a dirge and call-to-action confronting societal torpidity.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Becca Andrews, Désiré Nimubona, Jon Mooallem, Jesse Lee Kercheval, and Kathryn Borel.
Life on Screen: A Reality Television Reading List
Reality TV: Guilty pleasure or public service?
Public Education’s White Flight Problem
More than 50 years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision, little has changed, and several groups are hoping to use policy and practice to fix this longstanding issue.
The Soundtrack to Hell
“Not only was the whine agitating—EHHNNNNNNNN—but its constant drone was like a cruel mnemonic for everything that bothered him.”
I’m Never Fine
“As a proponent of transparency, especially one who stands in opposition to the demonization of feeling, I can’t—I won’t—use the word anymore.”
Impersonation Nation: A Very Scammy Reading List
Five stories that demonstrate we’re living in the golden age of the personal hoax.
The Elevator-Phobes of a Vertical City
New York City has more elevators than Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Washington combined — and every day, dozens of people acutely afraid of riding them need to find their way up and down the skyline.

